The family of a Connecticut woman has won the fight to make flying safer.
Susan Bourque, the sister of Stamford native and 9/11 widow Beverly Eckert, has been pushing to change the rules for pilots when it comes to fatigue.
Eckert was killed in a regional airline crash in 2009. on approach to Buffalo. Pilot fatigue was cited as a major factor in the accident.
Nearly three years after the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration is updating its rules and limiting the time a pilot can be on duty to between nine and 14 hours. Maximum flying time is nine to 10 hours with a minimum rest time of 10 hours in between flights.
"This goes a long way to helping keep rested pilots in the cockpit of passenger-carrying airlines," Bourque said.
Bourque believes the changes are a positive sign, but said it still doesn't make her loss any easier to bare.
"I think our efforts really went a long way in pushing this through and not just for ourselves but for everyone who flies and in the memory of all those people who died," Bourque said.
The airlines have two years to implement the changes.
